Seabourn cruisers try Silversea Shadow

[clarky]

Silversea Shadow Vancouver to Shanghai Sept 12 2010 to 10th October 2010

 

Firstly I would like to say that we really enjoyed our cruise. We have done about 100 days

on Seabourn but wanted to cruise Alaska but Seabourn does not do this itinerary. We had

heard good things about Silversea from passengers we had met on Seabourn so thought we would give it a try. We had a choice between Silversea and Regent but felt we would be happier on board Silversea.

 

I have noticed many posts on these boards asking for comparisons between Seabourn and

Silversea so while I review our Silversea cruise I will make comparisons to Seabourn for

those of you who ask that question. I have come to the conclusion that each person has

their own preference of cruise line according to what is important to them. In order for

the reader to put this review in perspective I will give you some information about my

husband and myself. We are in our early 50's, have cruised many times mainly on Seabourn and we are Australians. We normally book a cruise of 14 days or more and enjoy good food and wine. We like good onboard lecturers and guest entertainers. We are not terribly fussed about Broadway production shows. We enjoy socializing with other passengers from all parts of the world.

 

We boarded in Vancouver and were quickly taken to reception where our photo was taken and our cabin card issued. We were then given a glass of Champagne and informed that as our suite was not ready but we could have lunch at La Terraza. I prefer the Seabourn approach to embarkation where you are seated in the lounge after your photo and card are issued and then Champagne and food is served whilst you get to know you fellow cruisers. You are then taken to you suite by a staff member. This allows you to get to know some fellow passengers and puts everyone as a group in vacation mode. A small point and it did not affect the pleasure I took in this cruise - just an observation.

 

Suite:

 

The decor in the suite was very nice and didn't show any signs of wear and tear. I knew the ship was due in dry dock very soon after we left the cruise. The bathroom was very similar to the Seabourn Odyssey bathroom although I think the Shadow's bathroom had more storage space which I appreciated. Amenities in the bathroom were Bvlgari which were very nice and always replaced immediately. We unpacked our bags and noticed that nearly every draw handle was loose both in the walkin closet and in the suite. Also the hinge on one of the cupboards was very loose. This did not give a good first impression. We notified the butler and this was soon fixed. We then received a visit from the Manager of Housekeeping who apologized but informed us that the ship was due in dry dock soon. This is a maintenance issue and should be kept on top of not left until dry dock which does not happen very often. You have a butler and room attendant but neither reports it to the appropriate people? The other issue with the suite was there was no way to play music; no CD player or iPod docking station. I asked if there were any available and after a couple of days was given an iPod system that was being put in every suite as part of the upgrade due in dry dock. It took the butler a few days to find an adapter so we could plug it in and once we did plug it in we found that you could not plug in your laptop at the desk and have the iPod system on as the power points were too close together. I ended up plugging it in at the make-up desk but had to unplug it as soon as I wanted to use the hair dryer as the power points are very close together here to. Hope they fix this in dry dock.

 

Butler:

 

We thought the butler service sounded great as you would have one person to go to for all your needs. The only time we really saw the butler was when he delivered our breakfast

every morning. We eat breakfast in our suite every morning (a form of calorie control; the

buffets are too tempting). After two breakfasts where the hot food was cold we made a

complaint. We have a plate of fruit and then eggs and the eggs and toast were always cold. We have the same breakfast on Seabourn and never had a problem with cold food. The butler informed us that he would have to serve us breakfast in two steps, first the fruit and then he would come back with the hot food. Not ideal but at least our food was hot. We noticed that the plates were hot this time but it was bad management that it took the butler to ensure our breakfast was hot! We heard the same complaint from several passengers who just gave up and went to the buffet. We liked the fact the butler polished my husbands shoes before every formal night. To be honest the butler service sounds great but other than ensuring that our breakfast was hot (on Seabourn this is not an issue) he made little difference to our cruise.

 

Food:

 

This is where I may ruffle a few feathers of loyal Silversea passengers as the food on board was very much a disappointment. This is a very subjective topic as what one person likes another will not, however whatever is presented should be cooked well. To give this part of the review balance I will say that we met a couple on board who sailed on our last Seabourn Odyssey cruise and he thought the food was very good but then "I'm just a meat and potato man". I like a steak but don't want it to be the best option I have every evening. We were dining with him on the evening that I was served fish that was raw. I never experience a good piece of fish the whole cruise, it was either over cooked or under cooked. The main dining room menu was often uninspiring. The meat was always cooked well and I had a great Scallop dish and the salads were good but on the whole the food just was not that great. La Terraza was a better option and we had a fantastic meal of Shaved beef one night that was cooked to perfection. We noticed that the people who were happier with the food rarely ate in the main dinning room preferring La Terraza or the Patio Grill. The problem with La Terraza was that the menu only changes once every 5/7 days so it did become repetitive. The food at the pool grill was great but the menu never changed other than fish of the day (which was always hit and miss). So in my opinion the food was boring, sometimes very good but never sensational. The deserts were not great and I heard many people complaining about them. Not many appealed to me and I generally had a cheese plate. My husband who loves desert did not give high praise to the deserts. I found the choice of dining below that of Seabourn. La Champagne is not a dinning option unless you want to incur an extra fee of $200 per person including wines. The Two Restaurant on Seabourn has no extra charge and the food is sensational along with the wine paring. The Colonnade on Seabourn is the equivalent of La Terrazza but the theme changes every night and the food is wonderful. The pool grill is also and option on Seabourn so if we are talking about comparisons then Seabourn has more choices and better food. It also has caviar whenever you want it which is no longer the case with Silversea. Many loyal Silversea cruisers felt that the standard of food had dropped dramatically compared to their cruises just a year ago. Most felt that this was a cost savings as the cruises were so heavily discounted and cuts need to be made. I don't agree with this as in many cases it was the way the food was cooked that let them down not the produce. Another point to mention is that the friend who thought the food was good said that he felt the galley lunch was a joke they had cut it back so much. At this point in the cruise my expectations had lowered to the point I was not surprised. Compared to the Seabourn Galley lunch it was a very poor cousin.

 

 

Wine:

This is where Silversea had a win for me. Their wine was much better than Seabourn as was the choice of two house Champagnes. The variety on Seabourn regarding the wines is similar but I felt the quality of the wines on Silversea much better.

 

Service:

The crew are mostly Phillipino with some Indonesian and a few Europeans. The Phillipinos are very friendly and quickly remember your name but some of them are a little hard to understand. The stand outs here are Jovi and Verlin the bar tender in the small bar near

the casino. I prefer the Seabourn mix of staff as I feel they are just as friendly but perhaps more professional. The Phillipino staff sometimes had a too casual approach to

things. An example of this was a lunch we had in the main dinning room. After being served our first course we noticed very dirty rings on the table from where our plates had been. We mentioned this to our waiter and his response was "oh don't worry this was only on the bottom of your plates, the top of your plates were clean". We mentioned this to him so that he could find out what caused the dirty rings and make sure the problem was sorted out. We had this problem a couple of times but just put up with it. Yes, we could have followed up but I'm not on a cruise to follow up on things like this. It's not a big deal but it gave you the impression that the staff were not well trained. The case of the raw fish. We were seated at a table of 8 and everyone had been given their meal. My fish was raw and I was unable to eat it. Everyone had started to eat their meal and at that point I decided that I had lost my appetite and would just eat the vegetables. The waiter did not come to ask how we were enjoying our food until he needed to clear the plates. I quietly told him that my fish was uncooked that I didn't want a replacement but could he please take the dish to the chef so he could see that a meal had gone out to a passenger that was inedible. I did not want to make a fuss at the table and be eating while everyone had finished. By this point after taking a bite of the uncooked fish I had lost my appetite. Next the Maitre'd came to the table to ask about our meal and one of the guests mentioned my raw fish. He said "But madam, it would only have taken a moment to get a replacement. Why didn't you say anything?" I explained I didn't ask or want a replacement. He then proceeded to chew our the waiter in front of us. I felt terrible as it was not the waiter's fault; it was the chef's fault. And we should have to listen to him telling the waiter off. I also saw another manager yell at one of the Phillipino staff and this is always unpleasant and should never be witnessed by passengers. So for me Seabourn has better management and the staff take service seriously.

 

Entertainment Staff:

 

I like David Lawson and appreciated his sense of humour. Allesandra was also warm and

friendly and an asset to Silversea. We had two particularly wonderful guest lecturers, Phillip Hurst and Micheal Beurk. I know Phillip will be back on Silversea and also on Seabourn Odyssey in the coming months. His lecturers were topical and extremely interesting. We enjoyed the piano player and the violinist that were guest performers. The dance group were very average and the ballroom dancers particularly awful. We went to one show but as I mentioned we are not really fans of this sort of entertainment. We enjoyed trivia and the boat building competition. We found the on board activities to be about the same as Seabourn. Although I do like the outdoor Rock and Roll show that Seabourn puts on and the band and sailaways on Seabourn were much better. We enjoyed the Liars Club which both cruise lines do and Helmut the Hotel Director was hilarious. I enjoyed name this tune on Seabourn which they didn't have on the Shadow. So all in all Seabourn was a little better in the entertainment department.

 

Passengers:

 

The mix of passengers can make or break a cruise for us and it was great to meet up with three couples we had sailed with on Seabourn. I would say that the passenger mix is very much the same as Seabourn and we met and made some wonderful friends. 99% of the passengers were fantastic with 1% pain in the bottoms. The same can be said of Seabourn. David told us a funny story about Mrs 1%. She came to him and complained that there were too many Australians on-board and what was he going to do about it. This soon got around to all the Australians on-board, all 17% of us, and we all thought it very funny. We are very much used to being the minority when we travel. One of the Australian couples was at a hosted table one night and happened to mention to the table at large that a lady on board had complained that there were too many Australians on board. The lady next to him said "that was me", she then got up from the table never to return.

 

Overall:

 

We missed two ports on this itinerary because of our lateness into a Russian port and bad

weather and Russian incompetence and red tape. Some passengers believed it was the Captain's fault because he wanted to save fuel and did not make Russian in time thereby starting this chain of events. I'm not sure but I felt very sorry for passengers who disembarked in Tokyo as they missed their two Japanese ports. The shore excursions we took were very similar to the Seabourn excursions we have taken very well run. Would we cruise with Silversea again, I think this is the big question. My answer would be, if Silversea and Seabourn had the same itinerary I would select Seabourn but if Silversea did an itinerary that Seabourn did not offer I would cruise with them again. Many loyal Silversea passengers who were disappointed with the food and the way they felt Silversea was going asked us about Seabourn. I hope Silversea listen to these loyal passengers and get properly trained staff in both their kitchen and service areas.

 

Summary:

 

Food: Seabourn better

Wine: Silversea Better

Service: Seabourn Better

Staff: Seabourn Better

Entertainment: Seabourn by a hair.

Management: Seabourn Better.

Passengers: Equal.

Overall: Seabourn is the cruise line for us.

[benzygirl]

clarky,

Thank you for the wonderful review and comparisons. I have sailed on Silversea, and shortly will be taking my first Seabourn cruise, which I am really looking forward to. Enjoyed all your comparisons!

[FKGirl]

Silversea Shadow Vancouver to Shanghai Sept 12 2010 to 10th October 2010

 

 

We boarded in Vancouver and were quickly taken to reception where our photo was taken and our cabin card issued. We were then given a glass of Champagne and informed that as our suite was not ready but we could have lunch at La Terraza. I prefer the Seabourn approach to embarkation where you are seated in the lounge after your photo and card are issued and then Champagne and food is served whilst you get to know you fellow cruisers. You are then taken to you suite by a staff member. This allows you to get to know some fellow passengers and puts everyone as a group in vacation mode. A small point and it did not affect the pleasure I took in this cruise - just an observation.

 

Very nice comparison! Thanks!

 

When we were on the Spirit in June, I would have loved a place to have lunch after we boarded, but alas, room service did the trick!

 

http://FloridaKeysGirl.com

[SonomaWine]

clarky,

Thank you for the wonderful review and comparisons. I have sailed on Silversea, and shortly will be taking my first Seabourn cruise, which I am really looking forward to. Enjoyed all your comparisons!

 

Hi Benzygirl- We can compare notes when we sail Seabourn for the first time together in December. I have to say on our last Silversea cruise, the food has slipped. It wasn't the quality as much as the execution. There are many things I love about Silversea, and their staff is just fantastic.

[wripro]

It's interesting how many people complain that Seabourn does not serve lunch to embarking passengers. The OP prefers it this way. Having sailed both lines fairly extensively I can say that regarding food the OP has it pretty much right. During my last two Silversea cruises I found the options lacking and the quality inferior to the past. What I was most disappointed in was the lack of creativity and imagination on the menus which existed years ago. The offerings seemed much more basic whereas on Seabourn they reflect a more current trend in dining. This does not even take into account Restaurant 2 which shines in creativity and execution imo.

 

As for wines, it may be true that SS offers a better quality but I always discover one white and one red I like the first night out (after consulting with the wine waiter....I won't dignify any of these people with the term sommelier) and stick with those.

 

Having said all that both lines are excellent and I would happily sail either though Seabourn is always my first choice,if itinerary permits.

[benzygirl]

Hi Benzygirl- We can compare notes when we sail Seabourn for the first time together in December. I have to say on our last Silversea cruise, the food has slipped. It wasn't the quality as much as the execution. There are many things I love about Silversea, and their staff is just fantastic.

 

 

Would love to, and I am looking forward to meeting both of you. Send a pinot grigio or savignon blanc in your box please, LOL!

[secoma4]

Having just sailed with Silversea and Seabourn I thought the following might be a useful addition to the commentary on this topic.

 

We had sailed Seabourn before but wanted to do the Alaska cruise from Vancouver so chose Silversea - July 2010. Had heard many good reports. We were then booked on Seabourn Sojourn for Copenhagen to St Petersburgh (late August 2010). So the opportunity to compare was there.

 

The Silver Shadow is a lovely ship. Our suite was excellent.

 

But there were many disappointments. Maybe it was the fact it was school holidays or the itinerary.

 

Food

 

This was very disappointing on Silversea compared with Seabourn. The main dining room was bland, the breakfast was very ho hum and repetitive - reminded us of the Food Court on Queen Victoria. The food served on deck was good, but the weather was not conducive to outdoor dining.

 

Wine

 

On Silversea - Awful!! You don't expect premium but good quality, definitely. When they offered a wine from Australia I asked to see the bottle. It was from "Central Eastern Australia" and an unknown brand. Not a known wine region unless its for bulk wine sold in casks. On another occasion they served wine that I found undrinkable. We found many people had the same problem and had discussed with the Sommelier who tried hard with what she had. The problem is what Silversea supplies to the ship.

 

Entertainment

 

Embarrassing on Silversea. The shows on Seabourn are simple, and usually just the band, and 3 or 4 competent entertainers plus guest artists. We have always found them to be enjoyable and professional. What Silversea offered was an attempt at some form of "extravaganza" with people who couldn't dance or sing. I prefer KISS. It may be that because the Silver Shadow has a larger "theatre" they feel they need to do more.

 

In addition, the music offered in the Lounges and Club on Seabourn are always popular. Unfortunately, the setting on Silversea didn't help - dim and uninviting - nor did the style of music, at least for our taste.

 

We found that after dinner everyone just disappeared because there was nothing to attract you to the shows or the other entertainment.

 

Smoking

 

We were very surprised that Silversea allow smoking INSIDE in the common areas. They set aside half of a lounge for smokers. Then the smokers sit right near the dividing line so you have to walk past them to get in. This is a killer for us. We will not be sailing Silversea as long as this policy remains.

 

The itinerary for the Silversea cruise was similar to those those cover the region and the excursions offered were good.

 

But having now also sailed on the Sojourn (and before that the Pride and Spirit) the differences are stark. Whilst we found the Silver Shadow to be similar in many ways to the Sojourn, the food and entertainment offered by Seabourn were far superior. The crew on Seabourn also seem to have that edge in terms of being able to create a most welcoming atmosphere.

 

We have no reservations in saying we will sail Seabourn again (and have booked for 2 cruises next year). We would be prepared to try Silversea again because other reports have been good, but not as long as smoking is permitted inside.

[Steph27]

Very much enjoyed reading your review. We have not sailed Seabourn or Silversea yet. Since the launch of the Odyssey I have been looking for the right itinerary and time frame.

 

A few years ago we took a river cruise down the Danube with a large Australian contingent on board. They were so polite, down to earth and delight to be with. I think we may be booking Seabourn next year!

[ltsally]

Very interesting post. Silversea was our first cruise experience - TA in '05 and Alaska in '06 - and we loved both. So I'm sorry to hear of what appears to be serious slippage.

 

Sure loved that Aussie story though! The departure of the grande dame was not much of a loss, was it!:D Always amazes me how some people choose to behave.....

[SantaAna,CA]

I also was very disappointed in the food on the Shadow when I sailed to the Caribbean last year. Seabourn is so incredibly head and shoulders above Silversea, in my opinion, in this area. I thought maybe one or two "blah" dinners on the Shadow were just a blip, but when I had a terrible dinner in both the Italian restaurant AND the premium restaurant (that you pay an additional fee for), I thought, hm!

 

I don't know if I'd sail on Silversea again because of that. And the service, while pleasant, can't rival Seabourn.